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The auction was at about $35 until about 4 hours before the auction was ending. Then a competing bidder kept upping it $5 bucks or so at a crack. After a quite a few bids, they put in a bid for $6000. I'm assuming to see my max bid. They then retracted the bid and kept upping theirs until they were just below my max and stopped bidding.

Would I have liked to pay less, sure who wouldn't. I knew going into it that the $250 mark would be all I was willing to spend. I roughly knew what my break even point would be for selling off accurate replicas down the road.

If someone, such as myself, offers a high quality accurate copy of the parts, most people will be content with that and not look to getting the "original" parts. This in turn lowers the demand on originals and helps keep the prices in check for the original parts. Case in point the Graflex replicas. Prices for original Graflexes have been holding steady and dropping somewhat in price from where they were 3-4 years ago.

The auction was at about $35 until about 4 hours before the auction was ending. Then a competing bidder kept upping it $5 bucks or so at a crack. After a quite a few bids, they put in a bid for $6000. I'm assuming to see my max bid. They then retracted the bid and kept upping theirs until they were just below my max and stopped bidding.

That sounds like a case of the seller driving up the price of his own product. Why else would someone go through that much trouble to find out what your max bid was and then keep bidding but not go over your max?? Sounds fishy to me!

Look at his bid history. He's bid on a total of 2 items and has retracted his bids twice. I'd report that bidder to ebay.

How interesting, who would really want to put real parts on a replica suit anyhoo. I would settle for machined reproductions that were made off of original parts any time.

One of the only reason I say this is because... it's a replica suit, not an original suit. Certainly, If I had an original suit part (Knees, gauntlet, ect) and I were misisng a few greeblies, if I could replace original parts on it that were missing, I would try to replace them with original parts. In this case, you're taking original parts, and putting them on fan made armor. If the replica was made out of the same material and of the same dimentions, and for all purposes identical to the original, but only a portion of the price, why spend the $250 on original pieces to put on a $10 piece of vac formed plastic? Would using original pieces on a fan made piece of armor make it any more accurate (assuming the replica parts are identical to the originals) ?

In some cases making a replica means casting it out of resin, and for the calc pad, or the dental expander, well, a resin replica falls WAY short of being accurate to an original. In some cases I can understand wanting the original part, but having a machined part, made of the same materials, to the same dimentions, for a small fraction of the price... for me will suffuce

If the replica was made out of the same material and of the same dimentions, and for all purposes identical to the original, but only a portion of the price, why spend the $250 on original pieces to put on a $10 piece of vac formed plastic? Would using original pieces on a fan made piece of armor make it any more accurate (assuming the replica parts are identical to the originals) ?

i think it's just a personal preference. some folks just really like to have 30+ year old found items glued all over themselves

One of the only reason I say this is because... it's a replica suit, not an original suit....

There is a lot of truth in this. If you (general-you) are pursuing a Fett costume, you really need to decide what you're doing. It seems like a lot folks get swept up in these found-part hunts and don't actually make the hard comparison with their goals. Are you making something to wear and warm the kids with delight, or are you making a display to admire in your home? Do you want the satisfaction of building it yourself, or do you admire the work of others? Are you going for a general look to create a persona, or are you replicating dimensions and materials (if not cast a real prop) to create a replica? There's no right or wrong, just a matter of what your goal is.

Economies of scale not considered and assuming different individual preferences, are you going to pay a high price on a tiny piece and risk it falling off? The last dental expander I saw sold on eBay for $625. Next, are you going to put your $625 dental expander on your $100 gauntlets that are an artist's best "guess" anyway? It's like buying $800 wheels for your $500 car, and that only leads to one thing......girls, and lot's of 'em ..............................j/k.

I don't know anyone who can injection-mold plastic, but machining metal -- that's something hobbyists can do. Then, we can produce relatively inexpensive "identical" replicas of parts that increase everyone's accuracy across the board.

So what are you going to do? If there's a stamp on the back panel of the rocket pack saying "Pack 3," are you going to replicate that too until you are satisfied? Or are you going get it done, go to the hospital, and help a kid smile (wearing an aluminum replica of an insanely expensive part)? I'm not telling anyone what to do...I'm just saying make up your mind and do it.

That sounds like a case of the seller driving up the price of his own product. Why else would someone go through that much trouble to find out what your max bid was and then keep bidding but not go over your max?? Sounds fishy to me!

Look at his bid history. He's bid on a total of 2 items and has retracted his bids twice. I'd report that bidder to ebay.

Yep, I agree. Congrats on the win, especially if you are happy and willing to pay the price that you won for. Unfortuneately, I think the seller played the bump game to make you pay more, from the sounds of it